Still suffering from the antennagate problem with the iPhone 4? How about spotty coverage on AT&T?

A strange and inventive method will supposedly help your reception strength. Next time you find yourself with crummy coverage, put your iPhone in a glass. You probably want to make sure it’s empty first…

Sounds too easy doesn’t it? Why in the world would the iPhone 4 get better reception in a drink glass?

Well, we’re not really sure.

But TheNextWeb retells an experience that demonstrates the power of the glass,

“Yesterday I was having dinner at the famous and very popular Pasta e Basta in Amsterdam.

We turned up without a reservation on a Saturday evening but since it was just me and my daughter we got seats at the bar. The waiter behind the bar was extremely kind and started the evening by offering me a glass of Prosecco, on the house. After a few minutes I wanted to check in and maybe even tweet something so I grabbed my iPhone but immediately noticed I had no signal. Not even one bar, just a very depressing “No signal” warning.

Apparently I looked disappointed because the waiter came over right away and asked me “Can’t get a signal?”. I nodded and shrugged. Oh well. Then he offered “Do you want a glass?”. I figured he offered me another drink to cope with my disappointment but as I hadn’t even touched the Prosecco yet I thanked him and declined. But then he said “No, I mean for your iPhone!.”

Now I was confused. What the hell would I need a glass for my iPhone for? He smiled and said “It improves the reception. Here, look!” and he pointed to a row of phones, stuck in glasses, on the top shelf behind the bar.

The waiter gave me glass, I put my iPhone in, reluctantly, and lo and behold: I got 3 bars and no 3G but some GPRS. Not perfect but a huge improvement from the ‘No signal’ message I got earlier.”

There’s not much you can do with an iPhone in a glass, but it’s cool to know that such a simple solution exists for reception problems.

It makes sense that a glass would act sort of like a mini satellite dish, but I’m sure this DIY method doesn’t work in all cases. Who knows, if you’re in desperate need of reception, this trick might work for you.

Let us know if this glass method works on your iPhone 4. Just make sure to drink whatever is in the glass first.

UPDATE: Reader Jason sent in two screenshots comparing his signal strength before and after he placed his iPhone 4 in a glass. Not much of a difference, but still noticeable.